Pack Mentality
by mantisbelle
Summary: Loyalty isn't something that has been easily won for Hazel Rainart, nor is is true for Arthur Watts who sold his loyalty for promises from a self-fashioned god. When a child is brought to their fortress to be molded for loyalty, neither can help but be somewhat disturbed. Hazel's the most bothered by it of all.


Hazel's first reaction to seeing the child that Salem had brought home with her unannounced was that the boy was far too small. He was thin, frail, trembling, and he looked like he might have made himself sick with dehydration by crying too much. That wasn't to mention to physical injuries that covered the boy's body.

His first thought that he didn't have the slightest idea as to what Salem could have possibly wanted with a child. A child couldn't protect himself or fight, a child couldn't fend for himself. In a way, a child was nothing more than dead weight for it.

There was a small, quiet part of Hazel that resented her for bringing the child home. He had his reasons for it, but he never wanted to state them.

Mostly, it was the fact that he'd had a family of his own once, and they were lost. If his daughter was still alive, he was sure that she would have been about the same age as the little boy that Salem called "Tyrian."

There was a part of him that doubted that could be the boy's actual name.

All in all, it left Hazel feeling wholly bitter about the new addition. He wasn't the only one.

"Can you believe it?" Arthur commented, taking a seat in the common area where the shared their meals while Hazel poked idly at his food, unwilling to say anything and not wanting any company. Mostly, Hazel was doing his best to pass the time until it was considered _acceptable_ to go to sleep.

But having a child in the fortress was bringing up too many bad memories that Hazel didn't want to deal with, much less actually confront.

"Barely." Hazel finally managed to grumble, setting his fork down and pushing the plate that he'd made away from himself. "He's dead weight."

Arthur stared at him, and his vibrant green eyes even seemed to narrow slightly. "Why, you don't quite sound like yourself, Hazel." Hazel knew fully well that the man had to be smiling behind that mustache of his, smug as ever and _pleased_ by the fact that he'd possibly found ammunition for future jabs. "And to think, I would have thought that having a child around would make you more _amiable_."

Hazel knew that he grit his teeth harder than he should have, and crossed his arms over his chest. They'd both seen the way that Salem acted with the boy around in that near-maternal fashion of hers. They both knew plenty about how she treated him and what it was meant to achieve. Deep down, Hazel knew that it was a matter of time before Tyrian ended up tossed aside like the plaything of a bored child, especially if he didn't grow to prove himself.

And after that, it was going to be up to him and Watts to keep the boy in line most of the time.

"Not likely." Hazel grumbled, closing his eyes and hoping that he'd be able to calm himself down and even keep himself from lashing out at Arthur physically with all his might. He knew what happened when that sort of thing happened, and Hazel had the scars to prove it. Oh, he had so many scars to prove it.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "You should eat," he commented, leaning back in his seat and crossing one leg over the other. "We wouldn't want you getting weak all because of a few _feelings_."Arthur's words spoke too strongly to an upbringing in Atlas, where the old emotional repression had never truly died out, especially not in the upper classes where Arthur had been raised.

There was a pause and Arthur blinked, and those bright green eyes focused in on Hazel a little too closely, like a scientist giving an examination over an unwitting specimen.

Hazel hated those eyes.

"This is not an obstacle." Hazel grumbled a response, pushing himself up to his feet and walking to the other side of their common area to stare out at the landscape below, dotted with pools of black ichor as it was. "Just not hungry."

"Yes, because that's what _everyone_ says when their traumas get dragged back up so… unceremoniously." Arthur commented as he flipped his specialized scroll open to amuse himself in the time that they had together. "Such a troubling weakness as well," Arthur paused, locking his eyes onto Hazel. "Why, to fall to it-"

To Hazel, it almost felt like the man's gaze was boring a hole into his back, just below his shoulder blades. He hated Arthur for it. "What do you want?" He growled the words out, almost involuntarily balling his hands into fists at his sides.

"To get into your head, of course." Arthur responded. "Before she notices that you aren't acting right." There was a long pause. "Though, I'm sure she's too occupied with her little _pet_ to be able to notice either of us."

Hazel blinked and let out a heavy sigh that almost bordered on a groan before turning to face Arthur again. "Has she told you anything about him?" He didn't expect to any good answer out of the other man on the matter, but the least that he could do was ask. They'd both noticed that Salem had returned home with an injured child, and Hazel had noticed that it looked like some of the child's injuries had been patched up. 

Mostly, he saw early weakness.

Salem wouldn't sully her hands with blood, though- regardless of the situation or who it belonged to. The only person that she would go after directly was Ozpin, and so she kept Hazel and Arthur around to do her dirty work. They both knew that and were comfortable with the arrangement.

"I only know what she knows." Arthur replied. There was something distant about his words, like he knew something that he was all too unwilling to say. That wasn't something that Hazel normally expected from Arthur unless the man had some reason to lie about everything. "Which is that she got the boy from some circus. Seems he was kept as a faunus freak show in a rather _barbaric_ manner."

"And the injuries?"

"Mixed in origin."

Hazel nodded slowly, understanding what that meant. "Any from her?"

"Heavens, no." Arthur answered. "Although, I think you and I both know that's a matter of time." He paused for a long while, then let out a quiet sigh before setting his scroll down on the table that was between the two of them. "Has she come to you about him?"

"No." Hazel answered, arms crossed over his chest. "I suspect that when she wants him to be trained, he'll come to me, though." He paused. "Anything for you other than the injuries?"

Arthur shifted slightly and Hazel just watched him silently, not able to think of anything that he wanted to say to the man on the matter. The man seemed like he had a tension built up in his body that Hazel wasn't used to seeing. Usually Arthur brushed everything off long before it could bother him. "It seemed she was interested in having me…" Arthur sneered. " _Educate_ the child when the time comes." He rolled his eyes. "I don't know what she thinks the child will be useful for aside from that tail of his. Of course, the boy can't read and _that's_ an obstacle in itself."

Hazel stared across at the other man. They both knew fully well why she would take a child without proper education, it was all too obvious to them both what this would be about. A child that didn't know better was going to be an obedient child- at least in theory.

In fact, Hazel didn't doubt for a second that the boy's innocence and unawareness was the reason that Salem was keeping him so close to her most of the time. If she wanted to win unflinching loyalty, this was the time to mold him for her purposes. If that meant that she needed to train any feelings of empathy and remorse out of Tyrian, then she would.

"Do you want to raise the boy?" Arthur asked, his eyes gluing onto Hazel. "I'm sure having him around is difficult." The man's voice trailed off for a moment before he continued. "Though, I expect you'll work through these things."

It was the question that Hazel had been thinking about for far too long. "I don't know." Hazel grumbled. "It's not the same."

"It never will be." Arthur replied, almost sounding bored with his words. "You know you won't get them back."

"I'm aware." Hazel finally answered following a deep breath.

There was a long pause, a silence that neither of them wanted to address or think about. Something that neither of them wanted to so much as consider.

And that was very easy to figure out- what would happen once Salem got bored with the child and tossed him off to the side. Hazel supposed that it was going to be once he turned to a teenager, a few years down the lines. Once the boy was old enough to go on missions for Salem, then things would change.

But once she was bored with him, they probably were going to be the ones left to pick up any slack. Maybe she even expected for Hazel and Arthur to accept the boy as a comrade and fight alongside him.

Hazel doubted that any true partnership could form between the three of them. He and Arthur were both experienced in ways that the boy wasn't. The boy probably was never going to get a chance to catch up with them properly. Not without an intensive sort of training.

"You know," Arthur sneered. "I never wanted children."

"Surprising." Hazel answered bitterly. his gruff voice very clearly touched with sarcasm. "He's not yours."

"He's not yours either." Arthur replied sharply. "Nor is he hers in any capacity beyond that of a pet."

Hazel forced back a grimace. "If she wants us to see to it that he's raised, we don't have a choice in the matter."

Arthur frowned as well, unfolding his legs and leaning forward to rest his arms on the large polished stone table that they tended to use when they needed to eat. "Well, of course not." There was something somber in the man's voice. Of course, Hazel knew that Arthur had no interest in what was happening now.

Neither of them were happy with the situation at hand, but for different reasons. Not having a choice was a lot of it, but they had both signed their compacts with Salem.

Neither of them could leave so simply these days, not that either were that distinctly interested in leaving. Of course, Arthur was still with Salem for power and for what she could give him once he helped her get her what she needed.

As for Hazel, she was a chance at a life after everything that had happened and gone wrong in his own. She was meant to be a chance to live again and forget everything that had happened. That had been her gift to him- a chance past two deaths that he was sure he was never going to get off of his hands, no matter how hard he tried to force himself to forget and scrub them clean.

He forced the thought back and looked back to Watts, who was sitting there as idly as ever, seemingly just doing his best to keep himself entertained while he was there in the same space as Hazel was, just for the time being.

"So when she demands it, Hazel-" Arthur spoke again. "What do you intend to do?"

"Follow orders." Hazel rumbled before seating himself at the table again, since standing had done nothing to calm him. "Try to forget."

"It'll never be enough." Arthur paused. "You know that."

"Yes."

Another long silence settled over them. Hazel found himself staring down at his hands the entire time, hoping that he would be able to calm himself that way, but it only seemed to drag those thoughts back up. No escape. No comfort.

In a way, Hazel had died in a burning home in Mistral that he hadn't even been present for.

A fire that….

"Hazel." Arthur's voice shook him out of his thoughts, and Hazel blinked hard before looking back across at the man. "You truly seem unwell." He swallowed and reached up to adjust his tie- something that Hazel had learned to be one of Arthur's rare nervous tics.

Hazel knew that he wasn't going to be able to hide any further discomfort from Arthur at that point. It was clear to him that they were both unhappy with the situation at hand and that they both seemed to be experiencing some sort of frustration from it.

"I'm fine." He grumbled finally, looking back at the plate of food that he'd abandoned when Arthur had come back in. No matter how hard he tried, Hazel was sure that he wasn't going to be able to get his appetite back.

Too many bad memories.

"You know-" Arthur spoke up after clearing his throat. "I've heard that there are some remedies for such terrible memories." The man stared down at his right hand for just a second then back up at Hazel, mostly looking interested.

"I don't need them." Hazel nearly growled. He'd dealt with everything that he'd needed to confront in his life, he'd gone after the people that had wronged him, he'd deal with his anger. Nothing could raise the dead- that was something that he knew and had never let himself forget.

He leaned back in his seat just slightly, trying to make it look like he wasn't so angry that he wanted to destroy the first thing that crossed his path and watched Arthur, like a beast watching after its prey in a time of need.

"You say that so confidently." Arthur spoke up. "You and I both know that you're the only one here because of such regrets, Hazel."

There it was, that condescending tone that Hazel was far too used to hearing from Arthur. He couldn't help wondering whether or not Arthur was trying to get him to give in or show something that he didn't want to. In fact, he would have willingly bet money on the possibility that the other man was just trying to get information to use against him later on.

So Hazel raised his eyes, furrowed his brow, and balled his hands into fists before standing up just slightly and leaning into Arthur's direction. "Why do you care so much?"

It didn't hurt to be direct with things.

"Me?" Arthur spoke up. "Because my partner that I've fought alongside for the last several years is very obviously upset with the situation at hand." There was a pause. "And because I'm not pleased with her bringing home a liability either."

Hazel stared Arthur down. "You have no reason to be angry."

"On the contrary," Arthur replied, smiling and standing up to match Hazel's posture and height as best as he could. They both knew that he couldn't but size had never been enough to slow Arthur down when it came to intimidating and getting into people's heads in the past. He had a gift, and they were both very well aware of it. "This boy's appearance means that you and I are being saddled with more work in the time that we're here."

It would figure that Arthur would only be frustrated by something because of the fact that he had nothing to gain by the child being around.

"He's a child." Hazel grumbled. "If she has her way, he'll grow into the perfect warrior for him, and he won't..." His voice trailed off for a moment. This was a matter on which he wasn't so sure that he was going to end up speaking out of turn. He knew that his loyalty to Salem had wavered several times.

He didn't know if the same was true for Arthur.

If it was, he suspected that the man had faced some punishment for it. When Hazel's loyalty had wavered so severely that he'd nearly left, he'd seen personal intervention by the goddess of grimm herself.

It wasn't something to be ignored.

"He won't what, Hazel?"

"If she has her way, he'll never be able to even consider leaving."

Arthur blinked and nodded, knowing that what Hazel had just said was true before seating himself there at the table again. Hazel followed the motion soon after.

"Absolute loyalty, then?"

"Yes." Hazel said. "You've seen it."

Arthur's expression twisted into a grimace. "I suppose I have, much closer than you have." He said quietly. "She brought him to me injured, and held the boy the entire time while I put him back together. The creature cried so much-." Arthur shook his head. "Hazel, do all children cry so much, or is this one just particularly annoying?"

That wasn't something that Hazel wanted to give an answer to. That was a question that managed to reach a level of being too personal that it was something that he never even wanted to speak to the issue.

"It depends." He finally answered. "When they're injured, it's common."

"When they're sedated?"

"Then it depends on a lot of other things." Hazel finally said, thinking back to a time long ago. He thought of the last time he'd held his tiny daughter when she'd cried. She'd come home with a scabbed knee, having been pushed to the ground by an older boy.

Hazel closed his eyes.

He'd told her not to let that stop her or get in her way- that she should pick herself up, get moving, and let nothing so small stop her. She would listen, she was good, she always-

There was a deeply uncomfortable sensation in Hazel's chest that almost felt like his heart had both stopped beating or had been grabbed onto and squeezed by someone else. It was terrible- something that he never wanted to experience again.

It had been a long time.

But Hazel couldn't let this stop him, as painful as it was. That era had long passed, they were gone. He had to live on and he had to do his best to make the best of things. And he was even sure that he'd managed pretty well at that- it was just some of the details were questionable.

He didn't let himself concentrate on it too long, mostly because he didn't want to dwindle.

"I see." Arthur nearly sneered the words out. "I suppose that means that you and I have work to get to sooner than later, then."

Hazel nodded slowly, staring down at a spot on the table because that was the safest thing that he could do then. It was all that they could do- accept that this was how things were, adapt, and move on.

He was good at adapting, that had always been one of his strong suits.

"Yes," He finally managed, knowing that his voice probably sounded a bit rougher than it normally would, though that was a feat in itself to some degree. "When she orders it."

Arthur watched him closely, like there was something that he wanted to say to him dancing on the edge of his tongue that didn't dare slip out. Hazel tried not to think about it too closely, if only because this was a routine that he and Arthur had gone through so many times in the past. This was where they would find their strength.

At the end of the day, Hazel knew that he and Arthur were lucky to be where they were and have the opportunities that they did. Salem had promised both of them the world in exchange for their loyalty, and neither seemed to have ever bent as far as that went. Not badly enough that they dared try leaving.

Because of that, Hazel would stay put. At least with Salem he wasn't off living in the forests hoping that nobody would notice the monster that dwelled there. He could live on without having to worry too much, and only when he was sent off on missions would Hazel start to feel concern.

But Salem gave him a lot of resources that he wouldn't have had otherwise. She gave him a lot of friends in both high and low places, and that was something that he was grateful for. She granted him protection when he traveled, anonymity and recognition both. The only true term that existed between them was that Hazel wasn't to be sent back to the village that he called home unless it was on his terms.

She'd understood. She'd given him that much.

Arthur had traded something to Salem as well, and one day he would have his power that he wished for. Deep down, there was a part of Hazel that feared for the day that Arthur became the all-powerful figure that he wished to be. But at the same time, it had been a way for her to win Arthur's loyalty.

Hazel didn't really think that he could judge for it.

And now, Salem had a new child at her disposal, one that she was no doubt winning absolute loyalty from without even needing to promise him a thing. If things were as they appeared, the child would one day fight as capably as Hazel and Arthur did.

He just didn't look forward to the things that were going to happen along the way.

Hazel took a deep breath, reaching out to pick up the plate of food that he'd taken which had hadn't managed to finish just yet. He stood up and carefully nudged his fork over towards the center of his plate before giving Arthur a slight nod. "I'm going to go rest." He muttered, sounding almost bitter.

"Very well," Arthur smiled behind that mustache of his, all too obviously. "I suppose that means that I'll be seeing you around, won't I dear Hazel?"

Hazel let out a too-heavy sigh, knowing that he wasn't going to be getting out of this so easily. "Yes," He finally answered Arthur, shooting him a look. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."

Arthur's eyes glued to Hazel's back, so intently that Hazel couldn't ignore it. He tried not to shiver, and just continued on his way out of the small kitchen. There were things that he was going to have to confront in the near future, but for now, Hazel's main concern was going to be getting a meal in his stomach and getting to sleep.

Maybe if he was lucky he wouldn't end up being plagued by nightmares of burning wood splintering around his arms.

It was ultimately unlikely.


End file.
